My parents visited Albuquerque for the week surrounding Thanksgiving. We had a small, but sweet, thanksgiving feast at my place and ultimately decided to explore a little of the southwest with the camper. Mom was especially excited to try it out, that was until the heater failed on a 20 degree night.

After battling the washerboard, potholed, dirt road for miles, we popped up the camper in the Chaco campground and had a sandwich lunch. It was cold but the sun warmed up the canyon nicely. We toured Una Vida and the Petroglyphs and then took the first 80% of a guided tour of Pueblo Bonito, until the guide repeated the same thing for the 4th time. On our way back to camp, we stopped at Casa Rinconada and watched the visitor center video. We cooked up turkey soup and played backgammon and gin rummy back in the camper. The stars were spectacular in the cold clear night. Unfortunately, the contact in the thermostat was corroded so the heater wasn't working for most of the night and it was very chilly.

The following day, we hiked from Pueblo del Arroyo around the Pueblo Alto loop. The views of the valley with Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl from the rim were worth the extra effort.

Next, we made an attempt to reach the San Antonio Hot Springs lookout on the rim so my Mom could soak, but the road was a mud bog and dozens of large trucks were out there cutting down christmas trees and rutting out the road. My dad suggested I should probably give up once the hitch was dragging through the mud. Just then a crew of 6 or more lifted trucks and jeeps came our way and I had to back all the way down the muddy road with an audience. It didn't go great and I let my dad help with the last 30 ft. So we cut our losses and camped off the road there in the wilderness just off NM-144. Dad whipped up a fire and we cooked dinner in the camper. That night it snowed about an inch. After admiring the snowy pines, I set to extracting the family from the Jemez wilderness and heading home. We originally planned to visit Bandelier, but with the snowy road, I figured it was better to avoid the road through Valles Caldera. Instead we visited the Jemez Springs Church and got lunch at The Range Cafe. It wasn't a completely successful trip, but a good test for the camper and fun mini-adventure with my folks.